Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, DA Davidson Analyst Says

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at DA Davidson from $120.00 to $147.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the software maker’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.97% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Qualys in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.47.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ QLYS traded up $20.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $148.44. 1,116,177 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 433,159. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.16. Qualys has a 52 week low of $119.17 and a 52 week high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $148.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $876,470.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 179,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,493,851.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.54, for a total value of $76,100.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,695,599.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $876,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,493,851.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,919 shares of company stock worth $1,360,140. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Qualys by 294.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Qualys by 149.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 239 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Qualys in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 53.6% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 639 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.